[Thanks, Mum!]
Evening Times
1.19.94
Misskelley trial gets under way today
By Kathleen Burt
Evening Times Staff Writer
CORNING - The trial of Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr. for the murder of three West Memphis 8-year-olds in May got under way this morning; seven months after his arrest and after a day's delay because of severe winter weather.
A crowd that filled the lobby of the Clay County Courthouse in Corning was made up of prospective jurors, families of the murder victims, and members of the media. Outside, the temperature was 12 degrees and a six-inch layer of ice made streets surrounding the courthouse treacherous. Fallen trees which disrupted electrical power to the courthouse Monday and Tuesday still littered the courthouse lawn today.
Misskelley arrived at the courthouse at 9:10 a.m., surrounded by his attorneys and law enforcement officers from both Clay and Crittenden counties. Families of the victims began arriving at the courthouse about 8:30, although proceedings were not scheduled to begin until 10:30, an hour later than normal. Circuit Judge David Burnett set the late starting time to allow jurors and attorneys more time to navigate the frozen roads.
"We had to be here," said Mark Byers, father of murder victim Chris Byers. "This is just the beginning of the justice process. When it's all over, there will be some healing process. When they (the defendants) are not breathing any more, there will be a lot more healing."
Byers and his wife, Melissa,
(See on TRIAL, Page 2)
entered the courtroom together with families of the other murder victims, Michael Moore and Steve Branch, just after 10 a.m. Media representatives and jurors had been kept outside the courtroom before that time, in the courthouse lobby, for security reasons. Diane Moore, Michael Moore's mother, clutched a small photograph of her son, wearing a Cub Scout uniform, as she walked through the door.
Also on hand were attorneys for Misskelley's co-defendants, Damien Wayne Echols and Charles Jason Baldwin. The two of them are to go on trial together for the slayings next month in Jonesboro.
Only 50 members of the 300-person jury pool were ordered to appear in court this morning, with another 50 scheduled to come this afternoon for questioning by the judge and attorneys. Seating a jury is expected to take at least the rest of this week, after the delay.
The sheriff's office used metal detectors as part of a plan for tight security during the trial. Sheriff Darvin Stow has threatened to physically restrain or jail reporters if they disrupt the proceedings.
Local residents, some using video cameras to film the rare winter scene of tall hardwood trees ladened with snow around the small courthouse, looked on with curiosity Tuesday as television crews readied satellite trucks and other equipment for the city's first murder trial in about two years.
"I can't think of anyone who would have called and said they wanted a trial like this here. But people here usually take things in stride," Deputy Circuit Clerk Donna Ermert said. "We're a quiet city. We have our share of crimes going on, but we haven't had anything like this since I've been here."
Scans:
home.comcast.net/~wm3file....94_01.jpg
home.comcast.net/~wm3file....94_02.jpg
Evening Times
1.19.94
Misskelley trial gets under way today
By Kathleen Burt
Evening Times Staff Writer
CORNING - The trial of Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr. for the murder of three West Memphis 8-year-olds in May got under way this morning; seven months after his arrest and after a day's delay because of severe winter weather.
A crowd that filled the lobby of the Clay County Courthouse in Corning was made up of prospective jurors, families of the murder victims, and members of the media. Outside, the temperature was 12 degrees and a six-inch layer of ice made streets surrounding the courthouse treacherous. Fallen trees which disrupted electrical power to the courthouse Monday and Tuesday still littered the courthouse lawn today.
Misskelley arrived at the courthouse at 9:10 a.m., surrounded by his attorneys and law enforcement officers from both Clay and Crittenden counties. Families of the victims began arriving at the courthouse about 8:30, although proceedings were not scheduled to begin until 10:30, an hour later than normal. Circuit Judge David Burnett set the late starting time to allow jurors and attorneys more time to navigate the frozen roads.
"We had to be here," said Mark Byers, father of murder victim Chris Byers. "This is just the beginning of the justice process. When it's all over, there will be some healing process. When they (the defendants) are not breathing any more, there will be a lot more healing."
Byers and his wife, Melissa,
(See on TRIAL, Page 2)
entered the courtroom together with families of the other murder victims, Michael Moore and Steve Branch, just after 10 a.m. Media representatives and jurors had been kept outside the courtroom before that time, in the courthouse lobby, for security reasons. Diane Moore, Michael Moore's mother, clutched a small photograph of her son, wearing a Cub Scout uniform, as she walked through the door.
Also on hand were attorneys for Misskelley's co-defendants, Damien Wayne Echols and Charles Jason Baldwin. The two of them are to go on trial together for the slayings next month in Jonesboro.
Only 50 members of the 300-person jury pool were ordered to appear in court this morning, with another 50 scheduled to come this afternoon for questioning by the judge and attorneys. Seating a jury is expected to take at least the rest of this week, after the delay.
The sheriff's office used metal detectors as part of a plan for tight security during the trial. Sheriff Darvin Stow has threatened to physically restrain or jail reporters if they disrupt the proceedings.
Local residents, some using video cameras to film the rare winter scene of tall hardwood trees ladened with snow around the small courthouse, looked on with curiosity Tuesday as television crews readied satellite trucks and other equipment for the city's first murder trial in about two years.
"I can't think of anyone who would have called and said they wanted a trial like this here. But people here usually take things in stride," Deputy Circuit Clerk Donna Ermert said. "We're a quiet city. We have our share of crimes going on, but we haven't had anything like this since I've been here."
Scans:
home.comcast.net/~wm3file....94_01.jpg
home.comcast.net/~wm3file....94_02.jpg
